Ghanaian striker Felix Afena-Gyan has joined Turkish club Iğdır FK on a permanent deal from Italian side Cremonese, ending his three-year stint with the Serie B club. The 23-year-old forward, born Felix Afena Ohene-Gyan on 19 January 2003 in Sunyani, Ghana, put pen to paper on a two-year contract with the TFF 1. Lig side after an impressive loan campaign that revitalised his career following years of limited opportunities in Italy.
Standing at 1.75 metres and primarily deployed as a left winger or versatile forward who is right-footed, Afena-Gyan first rose to prominence after moving from local academy EurAfrica FC to the youth ranks of AS Roma in March 2021. His rapid ascent under José Mourinho saw him make an immediate impact with the Primavera side before breaking into the first team later that year.
He made his senior debut in Serie A against Cagliari in October 2021 and soon after delivered a memorable late brace as a substitute against Genoa, becoming the first player born in 2003 to score in Italy’s top flight and prompting Mourinho to fulfil a light-hearted promise of expensive new boots.
-Gyan featured in 17 Serie A matches that season, scoring twice, and contributed to Roma’s triumph in the inaugural UEFA Europa Conference League, appearing three times in the competition en route to the final victory over Feyenoord in Tirana.
His performances earned a permanent transfer to newly promoted Cremonese in August 2022 for a fee reported in the region of €6–7.5 million. Expectations were high for the Ghanaian international, who had already earned his first Black Stars caps, including a debut against Nigeria in March 2022 and a goal plus assist in a 3–0 win over Madagascar later that year.
Yet regular minutes and goals proved elusive in Cremona. Across his time with the club he managed around 30 league appearances without finding the net in Serie A or Serie B, though he scored important cup goals, including one in a Coppa Italia victory over Modena and a late equaliser against Napoli that helped force a penalty shoot-out win.
Subsequent loan spells offered greater freedom: a year with Juventus Next Gen in 2024–25 yielded six goals in 28 appearances, while the 2025–26 campaign on loan at Amedspor in Turkey’s second tier proved transformative. There he registered five goals and six assists in 35 matches, playing a key role in the side’s promotion to the Süper Lig and rediscovering the form and confidence that first marked him as a prospect.
Those displays attracted interest from several clubs, and Iğdır FK ultimately secured his permanent signature. Founded in 2016 and based in the eastern Turkish city of Iğdır near the borders with Armenia and Iran, the club has risen steadily through the amateur and professional ranks under the ownership of Alagöz Holding.
After successive promotions, including elevation to the TFF 1. Lig, Iğdır finished 13th in the 2025–26 second-tier season and will now look to the energetic Ghanaian to bolster their attacking options at the Iğdır City Stadium. For Afena-Gyan the move represents a full-time return to a league where he thrived, an opportunity to build consistent game time, and a platform from which to push for a return to the Ghana national team.
Despite featuring in some preparatory matches, he was omitted from Carlos Queiroz’s 23-man squad for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, a decision that drew some domestic criticism given his recent club form.
At 23 he remains a player of pace, directness and technical ability whose career path—from Sunyani to Roma’s Stadio Olimpico, through the challenges of Italian football, and now into Turkish professional ranks—continues to evolve. The permanent switch to Iğdır FK closes one chapter in Italy and opens another in a country where he has already shown he can contribute meaningfully at both ends of the pitch.